Penitent Mary Magdalene With A Skull, Fixed Under Glass, Folk Art, 18th Century

The penitent Mary Magdalene, traditionally depicted here with a skull, serves as a counterpoint to the worldly vanities that the saint rejected to dedicate herself to asceticism. She is shown in a desert landscape reminiscent of the iconographic conventions of the Thebaid, the "Desert Fathers" who chose a hermitic life. The saint's pose and the composition clearly recall the pictorial conventions of the 17th century. Since folk art is less receptive to artistic innovations (or at least slower to incorporate them), it is hardly surprising to find such a composition in a work dating from the 18th century, or at the very latest, the early 19th. The frame is later made of blackened wood. Bright and fresh colors, a beautiful harmony of browns and ochres, enhanced by the vivid blue of the garment. Minor losses of paint, which in no way compromise the integrity of the work. A beautiful, irregular, and bubbly glass plate, probably made using a cylinder blowing technique, in impeccable condition. Overall dimensions: 30 x 25 cm. Visible dimensions: 23 x 18 cm.